The Ultimate DIY Modern Calligraphy Starter Kit

When you make up your mind to learn calligraphy, you can do yourself one big favor: Don’t buy a kit from a big box store! Carefully compiling your own kit will ensure that you have high-quality, effective supplies that will make for a great experience from the beginning.

When I decided that I wanted to learn calligraphy back in 2012, I went to the local art supply store and purchased a Speedball calligraphy pen/nib kit and some black ink. I came home full of hope, but my ambitions were crushed by paper that caused the ink to bleed and nibs that I just couldn’t get the hang of. It was hard to convince myself to keep going after that experience; I thought I just wasn’t cut out for calligraphy. Eventually, though, I found the right materials through trial and error, and things got better! That’s why I’m providing you with this list: I want you to skip the pre-made kits, and assemble your own — much, much better — DIY modern calligraphy starter kit. You’ll be glad that you did!

I find the Nikko G to be the best beginner calligraphy nib, and I use it in all my beginner calligraphy workshops. Originally developed for manga artists, it’s a medium-flex Japanese nib that can stand up to calligraphy growing pains. It’s tolerant of a new user putting too much pressure on it, which is good: you need that kind of leeway when you’re figuring out how to make nice, thick downstrokes!

I recommend purchasing two nibs for your modern calligraphy starter kit. That’s because it’s always good to have an extra! Accidents happen: if you drop your nib on the floor while it’s in a pen, chances are the tines will splay and the nib won’t write properly anymore. Furthermore, all nibs wear out eventually. The Nikko G takes a while to wear out naturally, but you’ll notice that, after a while, it just doesn’t write as smoothly as it used to. At that point, you’ll want to start using the second nib!

Nikko G nibs are internationally available. Here’s a list of some merchants by country:

Canada – Amazon (Note: the Nikko G is not available for a reasonable price in Canada. Instead, purchase the “Zebra G”, which is what this link leads to. The Zebra G is identical to the Nikko G, but has a little bit less flex.)

2. A Potato (Yep … a Potato)

Believe it or not, a plain old potato (I use Russet) is an important part of your modern calligraphy starter kit! You can read this blog post to learn how to use a potato to clean off new calligraphy nibs. (Do not skip cleaning new nibs! Otherwise, they won’t cooperate when you try to write.)

The Nikko G nib is a standard size, so it doesn’t matter at this stage which straight pen you include in your modern calligraphy starter kit. The nib should fit in just about any pen! If you think you may use other sizes of nibs in the future, however, I would start with a Manuscript pen. I provide Manuscript pens to participants when I teach workshops because they are cost-effective and include a “universal insert”. For more information about straight calligraphy pens and an explanation of what a universal insert is, I highly recommend reading the A Guide to Straight Calligraphy Pens post.

The photo above shows a Manuscript pen on the left and a Speedball plastic pen on the right. They both hold the Nikko G nib securely. However, the Speedball can’t hold many other sizes of nibs, while the Manuscript can. So, for now — while you are exclusively writing with a Nikko G nib — a pen like the Speedball pictured above will be fine. However, if you want to try other nibs in the future (like the tiny Brause EF66, my favorite!), it’s a good idea to invest the extra dollar or two in the Manuscript pen.

Straight calligraphy pens are widely available! You can follow the merchant links provided for the Nikko G nibs to find pens in your country.

Sumi ink is velvety, pitch black, and boasts a smooth viscosity that is very beginner-friendly. It’s a fantastic ink to begin learning calligraphy with! I generally use Yasutomo sumi ink, but I have also tried Kuretake sumi ink and found it to be the same (excellent) quality. With most sumi inks, you’ll also need to purchase a dip pen-friendly container to store the ink in. As long as the container is small and includes a screw-on top, it’s perfect! Good choices would include a baby food jar, small jam jar, cosmetics jar, or this jar.

Like Nikko G nibs and straight calligraphy pens, sumi ink is interntionally available. Here is a list of some retailers that I found:

If you can’t find sumi ink in your area, India ink makes a fine substitute — feel free to use that instead!

5. Water and Cloth

These are a couple of supplies that you probably already have! First, you need a cup to hold water. You’ll use that water — which I call “art water” — throughout your calligraphy practice to clean off your nib! I like to use an old mug because it’s sturdy and difficult to knock over. Next, you’ll want a non-fibrous cloth, like a dinner napkin. You’ll use this to wipe water off of your nib after every cleaning. While you can use a paper towel, it’s not ideal because the fibers of the paper towel get stuck in the nib!

Last year, a friend introduced me to using 32# laserjet paper to create calligraphy on, and I’ve never looked back! There are a lot of specialty papers you can purchase to write on, but 32# laserjet rivals their quality and is by far the most cost-effective! It’s a great paper for dip pens because it’s super smooth and doesn’t cause ink to bleed or spiderweb out, which is a problem you’ll experience with regular printer paper and most cardstocks.

It’s easiest to begin learning modern calligraphy if you have plenty of information and guided practice! (Some quizzes and homework also help.) For that reason, I recommend starting your calligraphy journey with the TPK Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course. (You can learn more about what the course includes in the video below.)

Once you finish the online course, try filling out a calligraphy worksheet! My current favorite worksheet style is the Janet, but I go through phases as far as what I like — and I think that you will, too. If you see a calligraphy style in the catalog that you’re drawn to, start there. No matter which worksheet you choose, don’t forget to print it out on 32# laserjet paper! Laserjet paper will work beautifully with your home inkjet printer.

This is a page from the Intensive Word Practice section of the Janet Style calligraphy worksheet.

Summary List

The supplies explained in the blog post above comprise a solid and high-quality modern calligraphy starter kit. Once you have worked with these materials for a while, you can accumulate additional supplies bit by bit! For example, you can add an oblique pen, white ink, gold ink, beautiful envelopes, and whatever else your heart desires to your collection.

For now, though, here’s a quick summary of all the Ultimate Modern Calligraphy Starter Kit supplies listed above, as well as (USA) links to purchase them:

TPK-Approved Pre-Assembled Kits

While DIYing a calligraphy kit is always going to be your most cost-effective option, you can treat yourself to a pre-made kit if you would rather not compile your own. For the past few months, I’ve been working with The Paper Seahorse to collaborate on kits that include quality materials. Owner Tona and I put a lot of care and thoughtful touches into the kits, so they’re not going to be your most cost-effective option, but they’re gorgeous and useful.

There are two versions of the kit. The Essential Calligraphy Kit includes everything listed in this blog post (well, except for the online course and the potato). The Ultimate Calligraphy Kit includes everything in this blog post plus a nib tin, an oblique pen, a Brause EF66 nib, and a vial to hold your art water. Both are great options for a gift — either for yourself or a loved one — as they have everything you need and arrive impeccably packaged.

I hope that this explanation of the ideal modern calligraphy starter kit addresses any questions you may have about what supplies you need. If you have any questions, of course feel free to ask in the comments! I’m always glad to answer. Also, if your country is not listed above and you know where to purchase calligraphy supplies there, please contribute that information! It will, without a doubt, benefit someone in the future.

Welcome to The Postman’s Knock

I'm Lindsey Bugbee

designer + illustrator + calligrapher

The Postman's Knock is a blog focused on teaching creative techniques and offering guides to learning modern calligraphy and illustration. I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it!

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183 Comments

I’ve been brush lettering for awhile but never felt confident enough to make the jump to calligraphy because I didn’t want to buy the wrong thing. Your guide literally made it so easy, and I just ordered my own DIY kit — which is so affordable!! I’m so excited, thank you so much for making this guide.

Hi Tiffany! I would go ahead and get the Essential Calligraphy Kit, or DIY your own kit. 🙂 Lefties (usually!) don’t need an oblique pen, and if they do, it’s a special left-handed oblique pen with the flange on the right instead of the left.

Hi Lindsay,
I love your blog – I would like to attend one of your workshops, but living in Australia makes that impossible – but I did the next best thing and ordered the Beginners online course. Now the trick is, to find the time required! I make my own cards so it is a busy time of the year, but next year I am planning on surprising the recipients of my cards with fancy addressed envelopes & writing. Yay! I very much like the relaxed way you present yourself & merchandise, and look forward to your emails. Thanks heaps, and congratulations on your beautiful new arrival. I had to laugh when I read about the vacuum noise in the background!!
I look forward to your new site – hope it is everything you want it to be.
Cheers Jan

This blog post helped me out so much! Especially because I did buy the premade calligraphy kit for beginners to start out, but they were not as easy to use, and then I red this blog post, and made my own kit, and I absolutely love it! Thank you so much!

Hi there Lindsey
I have always wanted to have beautiful writing,. My best friend at school could make every single page of her school exercise book look like the first with row after row of beautiful script. I always took a deep breath before writing the first line in mine but by the end of the page….well perhaps messiness is a sign of creativeness !
So now i am making my first steps to learning calligraphy and in my first search i found you – and i am so excited reading your blogs and also seeing your sheets for practising the basics with brush pens (my adult colluding in equipment will be raided ) and i cant wait to get started.
Having found my creative side over the past few years due to ill health (every cloud!) I am currently into crochet, furniture restoration, sketching, colouring and also lino printing. I am also considering starting my own blog to share my joy at being creative – and would like to say thanks for all your obvious effort and I am looking forward to learning a new skill with your help!! I really want to embrace my Irish Heitage by developing the ability to write and illustrate in the Celtic Style.
Fingers crossed I am lucky to win a kit to get me started – but here is to a long acquaintance!
With love from London

Sorry, but I have another question. I am trying to locate 32# laserjet paper but all I have found so far in the UK is £40+ for 500 sheets which is excessive. Can you tell me what 32# means in the UK please?

Thank you so much for this blog, I would like to try Calligraphy for the first time and your advise has given me a lot of help for buying the items I need to start. One question I have though is that I know I can download the Amy Style worksheets amongst others, but this does not actually give you instruction on how to do it so can you help point me in the right direction please?

Thank you so, so much for this post! I feel like I’ve mastered brush lettering and am ready for the real deal. My sister wants me to emboss place cards for her wedding in December and my brushes are just too large. I am hoping the calligraphy pen you linked to will do the trick. I am planning on practicing with the Sumi ink you recommended BUT…Do you have any tips for which kind of ink to use that will emboss wel? I’m assuming anything that isn’t too fast-drying will work, but I have no idea where to start! (I’ve heard that embossing ink refills are too thick for the nibs?) Thanks in advance! Love your blog!!

Hi Jordan! I’ve never embossed calligraphy (it seemed like a lot of trouble — but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it!) … instead, I generally just use the Finetec palette. 🙂 I’m afraid that, beyond that nugget of information, I can’t be of much help!

Hi! Amazing blog! I’m trying to get into calligraphy and your posts are making it a bit easier for me. But I have lots of doubts anyway! I’m wondering…can I use the supplies you recommend for start learning the italic alphabet or do I need a different nib? Thank you!

Hi there! You will need a flat nib to start learning Italic. Unfortunately, beyond knowing the type of nib that you need, I am not very well informed about Italic calligraphy. :-/ This blog is dedicated to pointed pen calligraphy!

hello! I’m looking on how to start dip pen calligraphy with an oblique pen holder so could you recommend me some good ones for beginners? I’ve heard of the Speedball plastic one but I have seen many negative reviews about it and I’d like to start off with a better but not so professional one. Please and thank you!

Hey Lindsey. I’m trying to use the Yasutomo Sumi Ink with the HP LaserJet Paper but it’s bleeding through like crazy. I even tried adding a bit of gum arabic but that didn’t help. Do you have any thoughts on why this is happening? Or suggestions? Thanks in advance!

That’s very strange! Did you order this exact 32# laserjet paper from Amazon? Sometimes, variations of other types of paper (even HP brand) can give you issues! If you do have this paper, then I have no idea what is happening. :-/ I would recommend purchasing a Rhodia pad!

Yup. It’s that exact paper. I stocked up on it in July when it was on sale for $6.12 on Amazon. I’ve also tried the Yasutomo Sumi Ink with my Rhodia paper and it’s bleeding through that as well. Maybe I just got a bad batch of ink? I ended up buying a bottle of Speedball India Ink at a local art store and that’s working much better with both the HP and Rhodia paper.

What a bummer! I have no idea why that ink would be bleeding … maybe there’s just a ton of water in that particular batch?? That is so strange. But it sounds like you found a workaround! Just keep using the India ink for sure. 🙂 Sorry about the trouble! You might contact the retailer you bought the ink from and let them know what’s up … I think you deserve a refund.

Super glad I found this blog! It’s quite inundating to scan the Amazon and craft store offerings for a lot. I much prefer the custom created kit, which I got 2 Manuscript glossy pens, 2 Nikko G nibs, Sumi ink, and the ink storage for less than 20 bucks including the shipping! Now I feel more comfortable with my own individually selected kit than I would have with a less quality and more expensive option. Thank you bunches! I’ll be keeping tabs on TPK for additional tips as I go along!

Sorry if this question was already answered…I guess I’m too lazy to read through all of them! I’m wondering if a nib pen is easier to start with versus a brush pen? I’m having difficulty mastering the thin upstrokes and I feel like a nib pen may make that easier? Or not? Thanks!

Hi Hannah! By “nib pen”, do you mean a dip pen, or a standard pen such as a Pilot G2? I think it depends on the person, but for me it was easiest to start with a standard pen, foray into a dip pen, and then use a brush pen. 🙂

Hi can you please please have a look at this and tell me whether its ok to use as a beginner? I really want to use an oblique pen ans living in the uk its hard to get hold of really good ones and know whats what.

This seems self evident but I am a complete newbie. Your link for nikko g nibs on amazon for Canadians goes to a link for zebra g nibs. Is this the same or a similar alternative? Would this be ok to use? If not do you have any other Canadian resources for supplies? Thanks!

Hi Louanne! It’s a similar alternative, made by — I believe — the same company. The Zebra G is just a little less flexible! The reason I link to the Zebra G for Canada is because, for some reason, the Nikko Gs are just outrageously priced. I couldn’t find a Nikko G for a decent price at any of the Canadian websites that I researched! You’re much better off starting with the Zebra G for a reasonable price than spending an arm and a leg on the Nikko Gs … really, it’s nearly the same, and Zebra Gs are just as good for beginners.

I am looking to purchase the supplies listed, but I am going back and forth between a couple of things. First is should I get the Super Black India Ink or the Sumi ink that you linked? Also, I was thinking of getting the General Pencil Cork Tipped Penholder along with a Manuscript penholder. I saw a penholder in one of the pictures above that I thought was beautiful. It is pictured under the #3 heading. It is the yellow, blue and red one. Which one is that?

Hi Sahithi! If you have a choice between sumi and India, I’d go with sumi! The yellow, blue, and red holder is a Manuscript holder … really, though, as long as you get a straight holder with a metal insert, you’re good to go!

First of all, let me say how much I LOVE your site and your worksheets. I’ve seriously recommended them to everyone I know that is remotely interested in calligraphy 🙂

I am have an ongoing issue that maybe you’d have some insight into? I’ve been working on calligraphy for about 9 months now, and I’m definitely seeing major improvements. However, one thing I can’t seem to get the hang of is how to get the ideal amount of ink on the nib. Most of the time, I dip the nib (slightly past the vent) and then tap it on the side of the ink container to get off the excess. Without fail, I almost always still have way too much on there though! The moment I make a thick line it’s just too much ink and kind of pools. After a few strokes it’s fine. If I try to take more ink off the nib, then I run out of ink after maybe 2 letters. This happens with all the nibs I use and all the inks I use, haha. I mostly use either the Nikko G or Zebra G nibs with black sumi ink.

Any idea what I’m doing wrong? It drives me bonkers. I watch other calligraphers seamlessly go from dipping their pen in the ink and the writing at least one full word with no pooling. What am I missing? This even happens on nibs I’ve been using for a quite a while, so I don’t think it’s an issue of not prepping them enough, but I won’t rule that out entirely.

Any suggestions would be MUCH appreciated! Or if you have a post that I’ve missed that would address this issue, let me know! Either way, keep up the fantastic work!!!

You know, I have no idea whether this makes a difference or not, but it’s worth a try: instead of getting off excess ink by tapping it on the side of the ink container, try giving the inked nib a firm shake over your ink (or your art water). I find that, for some reason, this helps in getting excess ink off. You also might try being mindful of the angle you are holding the pen at. The more vertical the pen is, the more likely the ink is to pool. An adjustment of your pen angle may help a lot!

Hi Lindsey,
I’ve wanted to do calligraphy for a long time and I am so happy I stumbled across your blog!
I went to my local art store and was able to find everything but the nikko g nib. I ended up buying the speedball hunt premium nib. I practiced some today and I’m so glad that I finally decided to try calligraphy.
The only problem I had was that the nib kept splitting, I don’t know how to explain it any other way. Whenever I would press down hard, the tip would split in two. I was wondering if you had any suggestions?
Is it just a problem with the hunt nib or is it just me being clumsy and pressing too hard lol
Thanks again!
I have really learned a lot from your blog 🙂

I’ve noticed that Nikko G nibs are difficult to find locally; I live in a pretty well-stocked city with 4+ art supply stores, and none of them have the Nikko G either. 🙂 It sounds like the nib you purchased is very flexible, and it is supposed to “split” when you press hard! That splitting causes thick downstrokes, which is good. That said, I would order a Nikko G nib online if possible. If you’re a beginner, flexible nibs can be hard to work with, and it’s best to start with a more hardy, rigid nib like the Nikko G. Once you use the Nikko G for a while, it will be easier to use nibs like the one that you purchased!

I just discovered your blog a few days ago and I am SO glad I did! I’ve always thought that calligraphy wasn’t something that a “normal” person ever could learn, but after scrolling through your inspiring blog and trying out the Amy style calligraphy worksheet, I see that it totally IS possible! Thank you for all your helpful (and super encouraging) posts, Lindsey! You gave me that “push start” I needed 😉

Thank you! Just discovered your site. I’ve always been interested in learning calligraphy but not knowing how to begin has been intimidating and prevented me from actually starting. However, your posts about the myths and this starter kit guide are encouraging me to actually get started. I’m excited to learn more from your blog 🙂

Calligraphy really is one of those things where if you put in the time, you’ll see major results! Sometimes, Learn Calligraphy for a Latté users send me before and after photos, and I’m always amazed at how much they achieve in just a few weeks. 🙂

You recommend the Nikko G nib for beginners. I am in Australia and have just been on the Ornasonova website. The only Nikko G I’ve found there is the Nikko Manga G nib. Is that the same as the one you are talking about Lindsey? TIA, Tracey